The Bride of the Dragon
by Nishu96
Summary: When a young Priestess helps an injured Dragon out of pure kindness, she didn t think that he d take it the wrong way and insists for her to become his bride. Though she refuses, he takes her with him anyways and tries to make her his by force, but he might have to realize that he has to change his ways in order to win her heart... [AU, Dragon!Kabuto]
1. Kindness

**[A/N: Hey guys, well I hope you might like this idea I had currently and I´d really like to hear what you have to say about it! Reviews are very appreciated and enjoy reading!]  
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* * *

**The Bride of the Dragon ~**

**Chapter 1 ~ Kindness**

The sky was overcast by grey, thick clouds, so that it appeared as if it´d start to rain every moment.

Seira walked in a quicker pace down the forest path, as she didn´t wish to be caught in a rain storm. Luckily was the temple in which she worked not too far away, so that she believed she might actually make it in time.

All of a sudden echoed a scream-like noise through the silent woods and the strawberry-blonde girl turned her head a bit startled into the direction from which the sound came. When she heard it again, did she run without much hesitation into the direction of the awful noise, as she thought whoever was the cause of it might need her help.

Soon she had reached a small river and scanned carefully her surroundings if there was anybody, but she gasped as she caught sight of the believed victim.

"A d-dragon?!"

She mumbled under her breath, while she eyed the elongated creature with slightly widened eyes. It was covered by whitish scales all over it´s body, had a grey mane along it´s head with four horns on top of it and was obviously wounded, as she saw bruises on the dragon´s body. She wondered what had happened to it, and why a majestic creature like this was at a place like this in the first place. Did it maybe get lost?

The loud whimper of the dragon snapped her back out of her thoughts and attracted like this once again her attention. Hesitantly and alert she approached the hurt being, as she had decided to at least try and take care of it somehow, that was if it´d allow her to do it.

When she stood in front of it, did she carefully reach out in order to show the dragon her presence, but she was more than terrified as the dragon moved suddenly and glared at her. Frightened she took a step back and locked for a moment her grey eyes with his golden ones, until she found her voice again and uttered:

"Y- You don´t have to be afraid, I- I just want to help you…!"

Once again she took a few steps closer to it and kneeled down on the ground, as she assumed it might not attack her out of nowhere, but when she touched one of the bruises slightly, roared the dragon loudly at her and started moving uneasily.

"Keep calm please! You will hurt yourself just further if you keep on moving!"

In order to soothe it, did she start to stroke it´s grey mane softly and hoped it might help. At first it didn´t seem like it as it started to move even quicker, but then slowly the dragon seemed to settle down again.

"Fine, so please stay still now. I need to concentrate if I want to heal your injuries…"

The dragon didn´t seem to care much as he simply did as she said and tried to stay still, while the priestess started using her healing abilities on the scaly creature. Due to the fact that it was so large, did she need more time and energy than usual, so that she was afterwards rather exhausted.

"S- So, I think you should be alright again…"

Panting she wiped with the back of her hand the sweat away from her forehead, while she smiled then kindly at the golden-eyed dragon.

"Well, I´ll go back home now. I think you can handle the rest by yourself…"

One last time she stroked his surprisingly soft mane and stood then up, but had to stay still for a moment as she felt dizzy, due to her exhaustion. The dizziness was soon gone and she walked a few steps, before she turned to the dragon and said:

"Goodbye and take care!"

And with this she disappeared back into the dense forest, while the dragon stared after her, with a slightly greedy glance in his shimmering eyes. What was this strange feeling he suddenly felt inside? When she touched him with her soft hands, he felt electrified and couldn´t help but to yearn for more of it. The young beauty obviously wasn´t afraid of him either and helped him without any hesitation, so maybe she was the one he had been looking for…?

Slowly he got back up on his feet in order to see if he was alright and after he was sure he could move freely again, he closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment. A strange, bluish light shone from the dragon, but as it had vanished stood in the place of the scaly creature a young man. His skin was pale and scaly, four horns graced the top of his head and his eyes were golden with violet marks around them. He was also dressed in a violet-blue robe and his grey hair became now nearly shoulder length.

A suspicious smirk had appeared on his lips as he glanced into the direction where the girl went at, while he said to himself:

"By tomorrow you will be mine, my beautiful bride…"


	2. Kidnapped

**Chapter 2 ~ Kidnapped**

Seira couldn´t seem to find some sleep that night, as she just couldn´t shake off a strange, uneasy feeling she seemed to have inside. The rain which poured down and the thunder outside didn´t help her either, but then after a while, her tiredness overwhelmed her finally.

When she woke up again the next morning, was the feeling from the night before gone and she believed she might´ve just imagined things. After all, she never was too fond of thunder and lightning. So after dressing herself in her usual attire, she began her daily routine by taking care of the temples indoors and afterwards also sweeping the area outside.

A silent sigh left her lips as she noticed that the storm had devastated a lot outside, so she had more to do there than usual. The ground was full with fallen leafs, so she started at first to get rid of them.

While sweeping the leafs all on one pile, her thoughts wandered back to yesterday and to the dragon which she had encountered. She wondered if he might´ve already been at his home again and if he was alright, since she wasn´t sure if he might´ve beared some more injuries which she hadn´t caught sight of. She shook her head slightly as she thought that even if that was the case, she most likely couldn´t do anything against it now, besides, weren´t dragon´s immortal anyways?

From the corner of her eye she suddenly caught sight of a person approaching her and turned a bit surprised around, as it wasn´t too usual for others to visit the temple. The nearest village was around four hours away, so there most likely came only travelers, if any. But then her eyes widened as she started to examine the young man, since he definitely didn´t have the appearance of a _normal _human being, as he had obviously horns on his head. Also the way he was dressed didn´t seem as if he was just a villager or a traveler, he appeared more like a nobleman with that robe he wore. Seira was perplex, but was brought back to reality as the grey-haired man stood just inches away from her with a suspicious smirk on his lips.

"W- What can I do for you?"

She asked as he kept staring at her, while he simply replied:

"Well, you don´t seem to recognize me, do you?"

"Where should I know you from?"

The tone of her voice had a hint of bewilderment inside, but the stranger simply chuckled at her unawareness and uttered:

"Hmm, let me prompt you then…"

With one swift movement he had grabbed her hands, wherefore the besom fell flapping to the ground. Seira didn´t have much time to react but blushed furiously as he placed her hands smirking on his cheeks and asked:

"So, can you remember me now?"

The feeling underneath her fingertips felt familiar, but she didn´t give much attention towards it as she just wanted to get away from this strange man, immediately. Quickly she dragged her hands away from him and took lightly afraid a few steps back, while the golden-eyed male simply followed her, still that disturbing smirk on his lips.

"You don´t have to be afraid of me, I won´t hurt you…"

When she heard those words coming from him, it suddenly hit her as to who this man could be, but she wasn´t certain that this really was possible. Hesitant she stopped walking and asked as confident as she could:

"Who are you?"

The stranger just looked at her for a while, before he shook his head and sighed slightly.

"My name is Kabuto, but I do believe you might´ve called me _dragon _yesterday…"

Fear overcame her as her suspicion became reality, since she didn´t know _why _he´d come to her all of a sudden. Did she maybe do something wrong by helping him?

Stuttering she asked:

"W- What do you want from me?"

Kabuto took a few steps closer to the fearful woman and said casually:

"I´m here to take you with me, as I want you to be my bride…"

"You- What?!"

Her composure was totally gone. Why of all people would he ask _her _a simple priestess to be his bride? Besides he didn´t even know her…

She tried to response as calm as she could:

"I- I´m kind of flattered that you would want that, b- but there is no way I would agree with this. I will not become your bride, never. And now please leave this temple…"

Ready to leave she turned away from him, but froze as she heard him loudly chuckling at her response. With an amused tone in his voice he exclaimed:

"Who said you had a choice but to come with me? I think I didn´t make myself clear enough; you _will _become my bride because I´ve already decided that you _will. _And now come here…!"

Her grey eyes widened and she felt cold sweat running down her neck. Was he really serious?!

Without a second thought she did the only thing she could think of and started running towards the temple, as she believed inside she might be save. Well, she didn´t come that far as an arm wrapped itself suddenly around her waist from behind and held tight on her, so that she couldn´t do anything but struggle. Even though she knew there might be nobody near who could help her, she started screaming loudly for help.

"Help me! Please I need-"

Kabuto placed his scaly hand above her mouth to shush her and tears swelled up inside Seira´s eyes. His hot breath near her ear send shivers down her spine, while he whispered then smirking:

"Don´t scream, I told you, didn´t I? You´re mine now and nothing will change this…"

One last time she tried to free herself from his strong grip, but it had no use. The last thing she remembered then was that she became tired all of a sudden and how she suddenly drifted unintentionally into darkness.

* * *

"Mhmmm… ohw where-… where am I?"

The strawberry-blonde female opened her eyes slowly, as she still felt kind of dizzy. Her remembrance of the latest happenings was blur, the only thing she knew was that this man, Kabuto, had done something to her.

Confused she shifted a bit around, as she suddenly noticed the foreign, soft place she laid at and the room where she was in. A pile of blue and white pillows supported her body, while she gazed also with slightly widened eyes through the large, magnificent room. The walls were white with purple curtains adorning them, the ground was made of the finest wood as it appeared and a large sliding door seemed to be the exit to the room. Also, a huge closet stood on the wall, as well as a dressing table where a large mirror hung above.

When she finally was able to sat up, she gasped as she noticed something else that had changed on her and heat rose up into her face. Instead of her usual priestess attire, she wore a baby-blue Kimono, which was beautified with golden dragons and a dark-blue sash around her waist. Her hair was also open instead of her usual ponytail, so that it fell now freely above her shoulders, but that was the least of her problems. The better question was, did that man really undress her while she was unconscious?!

Panicking she stood up from her sleeping place and slide hastily yet careful the door open, as she had just one wish at the moment; to leave the place she was currently at as soon as possible. The Kimono hobbled her by walking faster, so that she could move forward only in a walking pace. Anxious she continued her way through the hall, until she reached a huge window and glanced outside to at least get a slight idea of where she was. She gaped.

"O- Oh no!"

Through the window she could see the mountains and by taking a closer look she could see that the place at which she was laid on top of one too. For her that was the horror, as she had light fear of heights. She swallowed hard while she took a step back from the window and felt how her stomach twisted inside, as she suddenly bumped into someone with her back. Afraid of who it might be, she started shaking slightly and turned slowly around, but she was surprised as before her stood a normal looking woman, who gazed worriedly at her as she seemed to notice her fearful expression.

"Is everything alright?"

The green-eyed woman placed a hand on Seira´s shoulder, who was still shivering a little bit and asked:

"W- Who are you?"

"I´m Nonō, I work here as a maid. And what is your name?"

"Seira…"

The girl gazed up to the slightly taller woman and wondered why she´d take on a job like this with this awful man as her master. Was she maybe forced to do so?

"N- Nonō-san, please help me I-"

"My, you´re finally awake again, how delightful…"

When she heard _his _voice behind her, she froze and the feeling of angst returned once again into her. Afraid she hid behind Nonō and thought that if there was somebody at the moment who could help her, then it might be her. She held tight on the woman´s green, kimono-like garment, while Nonō raised a brow at Kabuto. What did he do to the girl that she was so afraid of him?

Before she had the chance to ask though, spoke the grey-haired male up and said:

"You can give her in my custody now. I´d like to share some alone time with my future bride…"

A smirk graced his features and though Nonō didn´t have a good feeling with this, she didn´t have much of a choice either as to listen to what he wanted. After all, she was in one way still his servant…

Hesitant she went out of the way, so that Kabuto had the possibility to lay his arm around the poor, grey-eyed girl and guided her like this back into the room she came from.

Seira felt a disgusting feeling arise inside her, especially as she thought of what he might do next with her. When they had reached the room, did he close the door quietly behind them and smiled then slyly down at her. A question appeared suddenly inside his mind and he asked casually:

"What is your name?"

She felt herself close to tears once again and couldn´t bring herself to answer him, wherefore he narrowed his eyes at her. A bit roughly he grabbed her by the wrist and said harshly:

"I asked you about your name!"

"S- Sei- Seira…!"

He let go of her and seemed pleased, while his lips tugged into a smirk once again. With his fingers he drove through her silky, strawberry-blonde hair and touched slightly with the fingertips of his other hand her soft skin, while he felt how his desire for her grew with every second. His face came a bit closer to hers, as he hushed:

"Seira, that´s a beautiful name…"

Just as he was about to go a step further, did he pause as he noticed the tears running down the girls face and how she started sobbing loudly. He took his hands off her and scowled, as he couldn´t really see what he did wrong to make her cry like this.

"Oi, there´s no need for you to cry…"

Seira buried her face in her hands and cried louder, while Kabuto sighed and decided that it had no use to try anything with her at the moment. He turned to the door and was about to leave, but turned again to her and announced:

"You will join me later on for dinner, I´ll send Nono to help you by preparing yourself."

And with this statement he left, while Seira sunk down on the floor and continued crying. Why did this happen to her? She had a simple life as a priestess and she had always appreciated it, but now, how should she ever get out of this again?

* * *

**[A/N: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed reading this 2nd Chapter and the 3rd will follow as soon as possible! Thanks to everybody who read, fav/followed this story so far and thank you JigokuShoujosRevenge and L for the reviews! Also as usual Reviews are very appreciated! Until next time! (^_^)/]**


	3. Impression

**Chapter 3 ~ Impression**

Around an hour had passed since Seira´s little breakdown and the strawberry-blonde girl had partly calmed down again. Every now and then slipped a tear out of her swollen eyes, but it wasn´t as bad as before and she could finally manage to bring her thoughts in order. After all, she didn´t plan to stay there and needed to find a way to leave this place no matter what.

The girl was leaning with her back against the pile of pillows, while she pressed one of them against her chest as she thought about her situation. She couldn´t understand Kabuto´s intentions towards her. How could he get her kindness so wrong? He didn´t seem to care what she thought and what she wanted as she had seen already, so what should she do with somebody like him? Talking obviously wasn´t an option…

Seira was snapped out of her thoughts as she heard a soft knock on her door, but was relieved as she saw that it was Nonō who entered her room afterwards. The green-eyed woman smiled warmly at her, but felt her heart slightly tighten as she noticed the trails of tears on her face. She felt bad as she thought that the girl had asked for her help yet she didn´t do anything for her and simply left her on her own. Well, maybe she could at least comfort her now…

"What do you want?"

Asked Seira after a while and Nonō replied:

"I´m here to help you by dressing yourself for dinner…"

The woman still smiled at her, but Seira´s stomach simply twisted inside at the thought of seeing _him _again.

"There´s no need for that, I won´t have dinner tonight."

The grey-eyed girl looked at Nonō with confidence in her eyes, while the latter replied kindly:

"But you have to eat something dear, it must´ve been a while since the last time you ate something, isn´t it?"

Though that was the truth and Seira felt really slightly hungry, she just uttered:

"It doesn´t matter to me, I won´t sit on a table with this person and act as if everything is alright…"

Nonō sighed quietly and placed herself beside Seira on the floor, while she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and began:

"You know, he isn´t so bad if you get to know him right…"

Seira´s brows twitched at Nonō´s statement and she responded a bit loudly:

"Do you really believe I want to become acquainted with him? He KIDNAPPED me if you didn´t know it! How can a person like this be considered good?"

For a moment there was silence between the two females, until Seira added:

"For me he is nothing but an arrogant, heartless man, who doesn´t care for anything but himself as it seems. I- I don´t want to have anything to do with somebody like him!"

Tears swelled up once again in the young beauties eyes, while Nonō just looked at her and didn´t know what to tell her. After all, the girl had a good reason to be mad at Kabuto and she could fully understand her point, but still, how should things turn out if she didn´t give him at least a chance?

Nonō thought about it while she stroked the girls back comforting, but she knew no matter what she told her, it wouldn´t matter. The only one who could show her that Kabuto wasn´t as bad as she thought, would be he himself, but the way he seemed to act towards her made this harder than thought, not at least because she couldn´t imagine him changing his ways just like that when she´d ask him to…

* * *

Nonō remained for a while longer with Seira and tried once or twice to persuade her not to skip dinner, but she eventually gave up as she noticed how uneasy this topic made the girl. When she left the room again she headed towards Kabuto´s room, as she needed to talk with him about his _guest_. She at least wanted to try and make him understand that he had to go easy on the girl, otherwise he´d never get closer to her, if that was what he wanted of course.

So when she reached the grey-haired male´s room, she entered after knocking and was then greeted from Kabuto´s piercing, golden eyes.

"What can I do for you? I thought I send you to help Seira with preparing herself for dinner?"

"Yes, about that-"

Hesitant she continued:

"She won´t join you for dinner tonight…"

Kabuto´s eyes widened shortly and were filled with confusion, but then he jumped up on his feet and wanted to head out of the door, with an enraged expression on his pale face.

"Hold on young man!"

Determined she placed her hands on Kabuto´s chest and pushed him a bit backwards, while the latter simply scowled at her and hissed:

"Get out of my way! She can´t just-"

Her green eyes glared daggers at him as she said:

"If you go there now like this and yell at her what I assume you will do, you will make things even worser for the poor thing!"

The scaly man blinked at her, as he hadn´t expected to hear a lecture from the woman. Though since she was the closest he had to a mother, it wasn´t the first time that she scolded him…

"Kabuto, I know your intentions towards her might not have been from a bad nature, but can´t you see that she is more than terrified of you?"

He narrowed his eyes.

"What is that supposed to mean? She just needs a bit time to get used to this, she will be fine after a while…"

"I´m afraid it won´t be this easy. After all, you kidnapped her and make her stay here by force, so do you think she can _really _get used to something like this, a life in confinement?"

His mouth opened slightly as he wanted to response something to this, but Nonō added:

"I believe, however, if you would be less aggressive and brash towards her, she might change her mind about you…"

At first he wanted to protest, as he still couldn´t see his failures, but then he paused as he thought about her words once again. Being a little bit more friendly to the girl couldn´t hurt, right?

Kabuto sighed quietly and uttered:

"Fine, I won´t yell at her, but I want her nonetheless to join me for dinner."

* * *

Seira´s room wasn´t too far away from his own, so that he soon had reached her chamber and knocked politely in order not to seem rude. He entered after he got no sign from inside and saw the girl jerk as she saw him coming in, what made him raise a brow sceptically. After a moment of silence, he finally said:

"Dinner is ready soon and I insist you to join me Seira."

"I´m not hungry…"

The girl simply replied and begged mentally that he would leave her alone again, but unfortunately that wasn´t the case. He took a deep breath, and tried to be as friendly as possible as he uttered:

"This isn´t a matter to be discussed, besides that you must be hungry as you haven´t eaten all day. So would you _please _join me for dinner?"

"No."

After this word had left her lips, felt Kabuto how heat rose up in his face in anger and he clenched his hand into a fist. How dare she object him?!

"Fine, then starve for all I care! You won´t touch a single piece of food if I´m not with you!"

And with this said he left the room and slide the door roughly shut, while Seira´s respiration had quickened, due to his enraged expression. She buried her face into the pillow she held in her arms and sobbed, as she believed like this, she might really starve in the end.

* * *

It was then during night when her belly began to make some noise and she felt how her hunger seemed to overwhelm her. Though she didn´t regret her decision not to join Kabuto for dinner, she asked herself if he really meant what he said and she wasn´t allowed to eat anything without his permission.

Quietly she left after a while her room, as she had decided that she would give it a shot and get herself something from the kitchen, if she would find it. Besides, everybody should already sleep at such a late hour, so she hoped she might be lucky enough and won´t be caught.

Seira searched in silence through the large house, but couldn´t seem to find anything that looked like a kitchen or similar. Not to mention that she couldn´t enter every room just like that, as there was the possibility she could enter Kabuto´s room unintentionally and that was the least she wanted to happen.

A despaired sigh left her lips as she thought that it would be for the best to simply go back into her room, but she paused as she caught sight of a glimmering something at the end of the hall. Though she feared what it could be, was her curiosity more dominant this time and she went there without further ado. When she had reached the end, however, she was surprised as it turned out to be a small garden, with a pond that was lit up from the moon that shone on it. Inside swum some big koi carp and Seira found herself watching them with a light smile on her lips. She went into the squat and took a closer look on them, as they resembled the ones her grandmother used to breed at the temple back when she was alive. Her heart tightened at the thought of this and she missed her home even more. Would she ever manage to get back there?

Silent tears ran down her face and dripped into the pond, while she just had one wish at that moment; to go back to her real home and leave this nightmare behind…

The sound of silent steps attracted all of a sudden her attention and she glanced a bit tensely back up, while she caught then sight of the last person she had wished to see again that night.

"What might you do here at such a late hour?"

Kabuto rested a hand on his hip and gazed at her a bit questioning, but Seira simply stood back up, wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her Kimono and remained silent. Kabuto raised a brow.

"You weren´t coincidentally searching for the kitchen, were you?"

She shifted her look towards him and gazed into his golden orbs, but before she had the possibility to answer his question, growled her belly loudly and a smirk appeared on the grey-haired´s lips. Seira, on the other hand, blushed in embarrassment. With a lightly amused tone in his voice, he uttered:

"Hmm, hungry, aren´t we? I bet you were on the search for the kitchen but couldn´t find it, hm? So how about _I _guide you there and give you something…?"

She looked at him a bit disbelieving and just as she had thought, his reasoning behind the offer weren´t from a good-hearted nature after all, as he added:

"And how about you show me your gratitude afterwards by keeping me some company in my room?"

The sadistic smirk on his lips was conspicuous, while Seira clenched her hand into a fist and replied confident:

"I´d rather starve before I do this!"

His expression darkened at her response and within seconds he had pushed her against a balk, where he cornered her easily and gripped tightly her chin, so that she had no choice but to face him. Calmly yet dangerous he uttered:

"As my woman you should show me some respect and be obedient, otherwise I might have to punish you for your impossible behavior…"

She shivered and fear was written all over her face, but Kabuto simply continued:

"So I´ll ask you again Seira, do you wish to eat something and join me afterwards in my room?"

The next words which left her lips required a lot of braveness, but for some reason she was able to tell them to him while looking him directly in the eyes:

"Y- You are disgusting, that you threaten me just because I don´t do as you please and would even go as far as to hurt me just for your contentedness! But n- no matter what you do to me, I´ll never be yours!"

For what felt like eternity they just stared at each other and for a mere second she could swear she saw a glint of sorrow in those golden orbs of his, but she most likely just imagined it. Just as he seemed to response something to what she said, did she already wrench his hand away from her and uttered quietly:

"Just leave me alone…"

And with this she left, while Kabuto stood there and felt his heart slightly tighten. Did he go too far by saying this to her? By threatening her and telling her that she´d be punished sooner or later? Honestly, he wasn´t too certain about his ways anymore…

* * *

**[A/N: Hey! I hope you liked this Chapter and thank you JigokuShoujosRevenge for your review! Also thanks to everybody who read, fav/followed this story so far! Reviews are very appreciated and I´ll update as soon as possible! Until then! (^_^)/**


	4. Compromise

**Chapter 4 ~ Compromise**

"Damn it!"

Kabuto punched against the magnolia tree which stood inside his garden and clenched in frustration his teeth. What should he do now?

He might´ve gone a bit too far by threatening her, but then again, why was she so damn stubborn and disobedient? Why couldn´t she simply accept the fact that she belonged to him and finally act as his bride?

The grey-haired male couldn´t seem to understand her misery, but, despite of him still not seeing his wrong doing, he knew that he had to change _something_, otherwise she might never accept her place beside him. The question just was, what exactly should he change?

Thoughtful he narrowed his eyes slightly and glanced to the ground, but he eventually came to the conclusion that he might need some advice regarding this topic and he already knew who could be of some help…

* * *

During the early morning hours was Kabuto already wide awake and decided to act upon his decision before he might change his mind again. After all, asking for help never was one of his strengths…

Hesitant and still filled with doubts, he entered after knocking Nonō´s room, who seemed rather surprised about his sudden visit and gazed at him questioning.

"What´s the matter Kabuto?"

Since it was still quite early and the woman had barely woken up yet, she yawned and rubbed her eyes sleepily, while Kabuto cleared his throat and replied:

"I might need your advice with something…"

Nonō, though a little bit bewildered about his ask for help, gestured for the golden-eyed male to continue, what the latter then did. After he had explained everything necessary to know to the green-eyed woman, he was awaiting a response from her what might help him to finally get what he wanted. However, Nonō simply replied:

"I believe you should apologize to her for your behaviour..."

Kabuto raised a brow.

"And then?"

"Nothing else, this is probably the only thing you can do if you want her to forgive you. Besides that, as I told you already yesterday, you should tame your temper a bit and try to be more patient with her…"

Sceptically the young man looked at Nonō, as he couldn´t really imagine that a simple apology would make things alright again. He rested a hand on his hip.

"What if this doesn´t work? What am I supposed to do when she´s still reluctant towards me?"

Nonō smiled sadly.

"Then you´ll have to let her go…"

* * *

Some time later after his little talk with Nonō, he was on the way to finally make things clear with Seira and hoped that the advices his mother-figure gave him would work.

"They just have to…!"

He mumbled quietly to himself and continued his way, until he stood before her door and felt slight excitement inside him. Mentally he repeated once again what he had planned to tell her and hoped it would come off as friendly and honest as it sounded to him.

Confidently he knocked then against her door, but sighed as he got as expected no sign from inside and slide the door then simply open.

"Good morning. I´m here to-"

When his golden-eyes shifted through the room and there was no sign from the young priestess, he felt how a frown appeared on his forehead. Where was she?

Perplex he went quickly to the garden as he thought she might be there, but nothing. Kabuto narrowed his eyes. Did she really dare to run away?

His blood started boiling as a result of the anger which overcame him and after searching through the rest of the house if she really was nowhere, he felt totally enraged. If she really thought she could escape just like that, then she really underestimated him…!

Swiftly he turned himself into his dragon form and took off into the air. He´d definitely find her again…

* * *

Down at the valley walked in the mean time a rather exhausted Seira, who couldn´t believe that she´d actually made it to get out of this hellhole of a house. She was unsure at first if she should really dare to flee, but after threatening her like this and showing once again that he was nothing but a rough ruffian, she knew she had no other choice. He´d never had let her go on his own and though she knew it was risky as he could find her again, it was worth a try.

A sigh left the girls lips as her tiredness and her hunger overwhelmed her once again, but she tried to suppress her urge to take a break and walked further. Who knew, when she´d stop Kabuto might spot her again and that was the least she wanted to happen…

* * *

For a whole while longer she just walked, but felt with every step she took how her energy slowly left her. How long could she actually continue on like this without collapsing out of exhaustion…?

All of a sudden caught her grey-eyes sight of a river which laid on the side and, despite her mind telling her not to, she went there in order to maybe at least cool her burning throat. As she stood then before it, was the first thing she did kneeling down on the grass and took then a handful of the cold liquid into her palm, what she drank then without any hesitation. A joyful sigh left her lips.

Yawning she stretched herself then a little bit, since her legs were aching slightly due to her walking already for hours, while she whispered then after a moment to herself:

"Resting here for a minute or two won´t hurt I guess…"

And with this she laid onto her back and closed her eyes, but assured herself that she wouldn´t fall asleep yet. However, after a few minutes she had unintentionally drifted into a deep slumber…

* * *

"Oi…!"

Sleepily the young woman opened her eyes again as she felt something nudging her in the side, but she was terrified as she saw a foreign man standing above her. His dark eyes were narrowed, he had black, short spiky hair and the left side of his face was scarred. He didn´t seem very friendly either…

Seira sat carefully up and looked at the man, who asked then sternly:

"What might you do here woman?"

The strawberry-blonde female hesitated for a moment, as she was unsure if she should tell him the truth or not. In the end she replied:

"I- I got lost on my way back home…"

She put a fake smile on her lips and hoped the stranger might believe her little lie, but the latter didn´t seem to buy it. Before Seira had even the chance to blink, did she find herself pressed against the ground, with the young man on top of her and his hands laid around her throat. Her eyes widened in horror.

"I expect you to tell me truth immediately, otherwise you´ll pay the price for your lies…!"

Afraid she stuttered:

"P- Please don´t! I- I just e- escaped a d- dragon who k-"

The grip around her throat tightened, while the man said smirking:

"I see, so you´re one of _his _people. Clever to send a woman as a spy…"

"Wha-?!"

Seira couldn´t believe what she heard. Her and a spy?! How could he even get such an absurd thought?!

"W- Wait- I- I´m not-"

With all her strength she tried to loosen his hands around her throat so that she could clarify this misconception, but it had no use, he was too strong. Casually the man added then:

"Even if you´re not a spy, however, we have a contract with this reptile, in which is written that neither he nor his people shall ever be allowed to set a foot onto the Uchiha´s territory. So you committed a crime by overstepping the border and this will result in your death…!"

Tears swelled up into her eyes. She really had a bad luck these days, didn´t she?

"D- Don´t-!"

The merciless man didn´t listen to her pleads and simply continued strangling her, while Seira felt how she couldn´t breathe anymore. She struggled and did everything possible for her to stop him, but nothing helped. She was doomed…

Slowly she was losing her consciousness, while an inaudible cry for help left for the last time her lips:

"H- Help me…"

The last sound which reached the her ears was a roaring, loud noise, before she drifted once again into darkness…

* * *

The Uchiha glanced up from the unconscious girl underneath him as he as well heard the roaring above him and saw a big shadow hovering over him as well. Just a few second later stood the elongated dragon before him and glanced with his golden eyes at him. The man simply smirked.

"What, are you here to get this girl back? I suppose you didn´t forget what our treaty states, did you?"

In the blink of an eye had Kabuto turned himself once again into his humanoid form, while he hissed angered:

"I know it just too well, but this girl didn´t know it better as I haven´t told her about our split territories yet. So let her go!"

The black-haired male took his hands off the fainted Seira, but didn´t make any efforts to get off her, what pissed Kabuto off as well.

"Give me a reason, why should I spare her life? After all, she broke the law and came to the Uchiha´s land…"

Kabuto took a few steps closer to the two of them and stated:

"Because she is my bride and I dare you to lay a finger on her ever again Obito…!"

Seemingly not very impressed by the grey-haired´s threats, the young male called Obito took his time to get off Seira, but uttered before he took his leave:

"I might inform our leader about this incident and you should hope that this doesn´t affect out treaty too much Kabuto…"

The scaly male narrowed his eyes at him and shot him an evil glare, but brought his attention then back to the, hopefully just unconscious, Seira. His expression softened slightly as he picked the young woman bridal style up in his arms and walked back into the direction of his own territory.

On his way he gazed every now and then down onto his bride, but felt then again upset when he saw the strangulation marks on her throat. If it wasn´t for the peace in the lands, he would´ve shred Obito to pieces for hurting her and having the intentions to kill her, but he was smart enough to know that this would´ve been a mistake. After all, Seira seemed to be more or less alright and that was the main thing…

* * *

After a while of walking he had reached his own land again and sighed as he was glad not to be on the Uchiha´s side anymore. He never liked them much, to be honest…

For a moment he paused then and decided to take a little rest before he´d bring them back home, as turning into a dragon and back wasn´t too easy either, on the contrary, it was actually quite exhausting. So he walked underneath a shady, big tree and sat carefully down, while he placed the females head comfortably on his lap in order for her to rest properly as well.

Faintly smiling he stroked a few wisps of her strawberry-blonde hair out of her face, while he admired her beautiful features once again. Why couldn´t she just be his and stop making it so complicated?

A sigh left his lips while he leaned his head back on the trunk. He closed his eyes and thought that thinking about it wouldn´t probably solve the problem either, so he simply had to wait until she´d wake up again…

* * *

Coughing the grey-eyed girl opened after a whole while her eyes, but jerked as her vision became clear again and she saw _who _she laid on. This just had to be a bad dream…

Kabuto had also opened one of his eyes as he heard and felt the young woman moving, while he watched her then with a raised brow how she pulled herself quickly up from his lap and crawled a bit backwards. He crooked his head a bit.

"You´re obviously fine again…"

The woman simply glanced at him, but didn´t know what to say. As it seemed was her whole escape for nothing…

"Won´t you thank me for saving your life?"

Asked Kabuto with a brow raised once again, while Seira replied with narrowed eyes:

"It was your fault that I came into this situation in the first place, wasn´t it?"

The slightly amused glance in Kabuto´s eyes disappeared, as he responded:

"Where is this my fault? I told you to stay where you were, it is your own fault that you were careless enough to leave my safe house and try to run away…"

"I might not have done it if you wouldn´t have threatened me!"

"I wouldn´t have done that if you were more obedient!"

"Why should I be obedient towards the man who kidnapped me?!"

Kabuto opened his mouth to response something to her, but for some reason didn´t he know anymore what to say. He remained silent and simply glanced at Seira, who did the same and turned afterwards her back to him. He was just hopeless…

Lost in her thoughts, Seira glanced then around the area and tried to cheer herself up with the thought that she didn´t die today, but her joy was kept within limits as she knew Kabuto would bring her back to his place again. A fact which she sadly had to accept…

"Seira-"

Sighing she turned her head towards the golden-eyed male, who locked his eyes with her grey ones while scratching the back of his head. Mumbling he exclaimed then:

"I´m sorry, okay? I didn´t mean to scare you nor to hurt you…"

"What?"

She gazed at him confused and bewildered, while he repeated a bit louder:

"I said I´m sorry…!"

Seira furrowed her brows at his statement and was about to ask if this was just one of his tricks again, but she paused as she saw the honesty in his eyes. Maybe he really meant it as he said it…?

Kabuto looked meanwhile at her and was awaiting a reply, while she simply said:

"Apology accepted, but that won´t change my mind either."

Kabuto sighed at her reluctance. What a stubborn woman…

"Well, does that mean you´ll come back home with me without any resistance?"

When the only answer he got was silence, he added sighing:

"I promise that I won´t force you to anything you don´t want to do and also let you eat as you wish. My only condition is that you stay with me and don´t try to run away again, deal?"

Seira hesitated for a moment, but realized then that she had actually no choice but to agree with it. Well, it was better than nothing, right?

"Agreed…"

She replied and held her hand out for him to shake it, while she added quickly:

"But if you break your promise you´ll bring me back home, yes?"

Kabuto smirked lightly and grabbed her hand.

"Of course, you have my word…"

* * *

**[A/N: Hey! (^_^)/ I hope you all had a nice start into the new year and thanks to everybody who took the time to review, fave/followed and read this story so far! I´m sorry that this Update took so long, but I just couldn´t find myself satisfied with the content and how I wrote it, so that I changed it a few times until I was more or less pleased with it. I hope you liked it too though :)**

**Also, thank you JigokuShoujosRevenge and F3mi for your reviews! I´m glad to hear that you enjoyed the story so far!**

**Reviews are as usual very appreciated and I´ll try to update as soon as possible! Until then! \\(^_^) ]**


	5. Scaredy-Cat

**Chapter 5 ~ Scaredy-Cat**

Silence surrounded Seira and Kabuto as they walked side by side back towards his residence. It was a rather uncomfortable silence though, to say the least, since Seira still felt uneasy in the dragon´s company, even if he had made her a peace offer. However, she didn´t give much value to his word anyways, since she believed as soon as they´d reach his house, her distress would start all over again.

* * *

A bit later, while Seira tried to concentrate on everything around her but Kabuto, she was a bit terrified as the latter suddenly spoke up and asked:

"Why is it that you´re afraid of heights?"

The priestess glanced a bit questioning at the humanoid dragon, while she counter-questioned:

"Why do you care?"

"Well, first of all because we could already be at home if you´d have let me fly us there and then, you are my bride and therefore I want to know everything about you, so?"

Kabuto gazed at Seira with an awaiting glance in his golden orbs, while the strawberry-blonde female hesitated for a moment. Hearing him calling her his bride still sounded wrong to her after all and gave her a sick feeling inside, but, how things looked like at the moment, she had to pull herself together.

So she sighed quietly and replied:

"There´s no special reason behind it, I´m afraid of heights ever since I can think and therefore evade high places as good as I can…"

"I see…"

The grey-haired male mused shortly about his bride and her fears, but decided to keep his thoughts for himself for the time being, as he knew she wouldn´t agree with the idea he had in the first place. However, his curiosity about the grey-eyed girl was present nonetheless, so that he asked right away:

"And what is there to know about you apart from this Seira?"

She looked up to him and frowned, but decided that telling him at least _something _about her was probably unavoidable, besides, he might never leave her alone if she didn´t answer him.

With a rather nonchalant tone in her voice she replied:

"There´s not much to know about me to be honest, since you already know that I´m a priestess and run a temple-"

"Yes, but I meant besides the things I already do know…"

A light smirk played on his lips as he knew she simply wanted to get rid of his question with such a short answer, but, since he knew about her intentions beforehand, he wouldn´t leave her the possibility to do so. Seira sighed.

"Well, then give me something more specific about which you wish to know about..."

Kabuto could already hear the reluctance in her voice and could assume that the woman surely wouldn´t tell him about everything just like that, but since he still believed with the time she´d open up to him, he could wait until Seira would do so. However, that didn´t mean that he wouldn´t see how far he could go, so that he thought about it for a second and asked:

"How did you become a priestess in the first place?"

Seira bit in her lower lip and though very hesitant, she responded:

"My grandmother was one as well and taught me everything she knew, so that I could run the temple when she wasn´t there anymore…"

"So does this mean your grandmother is deceased?"

Seira nodded her head slightly and glanced back away from Kabuto, while she uttered:

"Yes, five years ago she passed away and since then it was my duty to take care of the temple, her devise…"

Though she tried to hide the sadness in her voice, she failed, while Kabuto replied:

"I´m sorry to hear that, it weren´t my intentions to reopen old sores and make you sad…"

The strawberry-blonde woman was a bit surprised about his words and as she shifted her gaze hesitant back towards him, she saw for the first time something else in those golden orbs than arrogance and malice. A half-hearted smile appeared on her lips.

"Well, it´s-"

Seira stopped all of a sudden in her tracks, while Kabuto shot her a rather confused gaze and stopped as well. Before he could ask her anything, however, reached his ears a loud growling noise, while the female blushed faintly all over her face. She glanced to the ground in embarrassment and was waiting for Kabuto to taunt her once again, but the humanoid dragon remained silent and simply looked at her. Right, she still hadn´t eaten anything and it surely would take a while until they´d reach the house, but what was he supposed to do in order to help her?

Suddenly an idea came to his mind as to what he could do for Seira and a smirk graced his features as he uttered:

"May I ask you to walk for a while without me? I´ll be right back…"

Seira heaved her head back up in bewilderment and was about to ask where he was going, but before she was able to do so, turned Kabuto himself already back in his dragon form. The bright light shining from him blinded the young priestess a little and as she could see clearly again, was he already gone.

Still perplex she glanced up to the sky and mumbled quietly to herself:

"I wonder what he´s up to now…"

* * *

Some time after Kabuto flew away and left Seira on her own, mused the strawberry-blonde female once again in silence about her _compromise _with the grey-haired man. Would he really hold his word or was this just him promising something in order to lure her back at his residence? And even if he spoke the truth, what then? Would she simply give up and become his bride?

Seira couldn´t imagine it and hoped that maybe after a while Kabuto would realize that too.

Deciding that thinking about this matter probably wouldn´t solve it right now, Seira examined her surroundings a little bit closer in order to bring her to other thoughts.

What she hadn´t noticed before since she was in a hurry, was that the environment around her looked simply beautiful, to say the least. Since it was springtime already, were most of the flowers and trees already blooming in their complete beauty, a sight which Seira really seemed to admire. If it wasn´t for her situation, she probably could´ve enjoyed the calm atmosphere and the wonderful purlieus wholeheartedly, but it at least seemed to ease her stress for the moment a little, even if it would just be for a while…

A bit lost in her admiration for the nature around her, Seira was a bit frightened as a huge shadow blocked the sun beams from shining through and glanced a bit alarmed back up, just to find an all too familiar dragon coming back from his business. She stopped walking and was waiting for the latter to come down again, what he did in the end by landing expertly beside her.

Kabuto turned swiftly back into his humanoid form and wore a smirk on his lips, while Seira´s eyes widened slightly as she saw what he had brought with him. A whole bunch of reddish, round fruits were carried by the grey-haired male, while Seira slowly seemed to realize as to why he went away in the first place.

Hesitantly, the priestess looked at the taller male and asked:

"Did you get those for me?"

He nodded his head shortly, while he replied:

"Yes, I did…"

Still a bit guardedly and leery, she reached out and grabbed one of the strange looking fruits, while she examined it then a bit closer.

"What kind of fruit is this?"

"It´s the fruit of the Yamamomo tree. It tastes rather good, at least in my opinion, though I prefer it as wine rather than raw…"

Seira sniffed on it first before she took hesitant a bite from the reddish fruit, but she was positively surprised as it tasted deliciously tart in her mouth, so that she smiled lightly as she chewed it. This, of course, didn´t go unnoticed by a certain golden-eyed man, whose smirk turned into one of satisfaction as he watched her eating the first fruit completely.

Afterwards he tilted his head slightly and asked innocently:

"So, I suppose they fit your taste then?"

The strawberry-blonde woman glanced back up to him, while she gulped the last piece of fruit and replied:

"They indeed do…"

As her eyes met with his, nervousness overcame her at first once again, but it lowered a little the moment she realized that, at least this one time, he had done something nice for her. Still looking at him she uttered:

"Thank you Kabuto…"

Seira bowed slightly before him, while Kabuto´s heart skipped a beat. His mesmerizing golden eyes had widened a little and he stared in slight surprise at her, making Seira wonder what the matter was all of a sudden.

"Did I say something wrong?"

When her voice reached his ears, he shook his head quickly, though more to snap himself back out of his trance, while he responded:

"No, you didn´t, but- it was the first time you called me by my name…"

A small smile appeared on his lips with a tint of pink on his pale skin, while Seira seemed still a bit perplex about his reaction.

"Hmm, I didn´t notice this to be honest…"

Repeating mentally once again the sweet sound of Seira´s voice as she said his name, he cleared his throat afterwards and uttered:

"Anyways, we should go further or we might never reach my house…"

Seira nodded quietly and grabbed another fruit from the male´s arms, while the two of them then continued their way.

* * *

The time seemed to pass by faster than before for the two of them, as it already dawned after a while and the darkness slowly started surrounding them. Though Kabuto kept talking to her for the majority of the time and she as well answered some of the not too personal questions he had, grew a queasy feeling inside her and, surprisingly, Kabuto wasn´t the reason this time. It was the dimness mixed with the several noises she heard around her which made the young woman feel uneasy, which was also the reason why she hoped they´d reach the residence soon.

"Say, how far is it until we´ve reached your home?"

Kabuto shifted his glimmering golden eyes towards Seira, who looked expectant up to the tall male.

"I´m not entirely sure as I´ve never been walking this way before, but I assume we´ll soon be there…"

Seira turned her gaze straight ahead again, while mumbling a quiet `I see´. The grey-haired dragon raised a bit questioning a brow.

"Why did you ask?"

From the corner of her eye she glanced at him and replied a bit diffident:

"I´m not very fond of walking in the dark through the wilderness, that is all…"

At moments like this Seira really disliked her trait of being a scaredy-cat, yet she couldn´t help but feeling unsafe at places like this. Kabuto´s lips had meanwhile tugged into a slight smirk, while he uttered dissembling:

"If you feel afraid you might as well come closer to me Seira…"

She narrowed her eyes at him and replied:

"No thanks."

"Well, it´s your decision and it was simply an offer, as there´s nobody who could protect you better than me…"

At this statement she was about to reply something rather sarcastic, but bit her tongue in order to prevent her from doing so. She really wasn´t in the mood for a discussion now…

A rustle in the bushes on the side attracted all of a sudden her attention and a shiver ran down her spine, especially as she noticed the glowing eyes of some animal following them. She gulped.

"W- What kind of animals live here in the mountains?"

"Hmm, all kind of, from harmless ones to predators…"

"I see…"

Unintentionally, the strawberry-blonde woman moved a few steps to the side, away from the bushes as far as she could. When she felt suddenly the warmth of another person near her and her arm touched Kabuto´s slightly, she jerked a little, but tried to keep calm. As much as she didn´t wish to be near the humanoid dragon, but at the moment he seemed to be the less hazardous threat, besides, even if she didn´t like to admit it, he was indeed the only person to protect her for now.

"You´re quite the scaredy-cat, aren´t you? Though I must admit this trait is kind of adorable in some aspects…"

Kabuto looked a bit mocking down at the small woman, whose cheeks flushed into a bright shade of pink due to his words. Just as she was about to response something though, did she notice how Kabuto offered her his arm to hook on. She frowned at him, while he uttered:

"You might as well just accept my offer. It´s not as if it´d make much of a difference between our closeness, does it?"

Reluctantly she nodded slightly and sighed as she hooked her arm on his, while Kabuto wore a victorious smirk on his lips. Even if it was just a small approach, but it reinforced Kabuto´s theory that with the time, she´d definitely be his…

* * *

**[A/N: Hey guys! It´s been a while, hasn´t it? I´m super sorry for the late update, but I got some really horrible writers block in the last time and wasn´t able to write a complete chapter for a whole while, but I hope it might´ve been gone again and I can write and update more often now! Also I hope you liked this chapter and the way Kabuto´s and Seira´s relationship seems to develop.**

**Thank you JigokuShoujosRevenge for your review and to everybody who read, fave/followed this story so far! Reviews are as usual very appreciated!**

**See you next time! (^-^)/]**


	6. The Village

**Chapter 6 ~ The Village**

~ one week later ~

Seira sat absentmindedly outside in the flowery garden, while she glanced without any real attention at the pond with the koi carp inside. Though she enjoyed finally being outside again and the bit of freedom Kabuto granted her ever since their little deal, she still couldn´t get used to the scaly male and, honestly, she still wasn´t sure that she even wanted to form any kind of relationship with him at all. A part of her still hoped that Kabuto might lose his interest in her sooner or later, as she was still refusing to have dinner together with him or do any other activity the male might´ve wanted to do with her. However, Kabuto was surprisingly very unobtrusive and patient over the last week, something Seira hadn´t expected from how he behaved before and it made her become a little bit doubtful. Should she give him a chance after all?

It was hard for her to decide whether she wanted to do this or not, considering that she was still unsure if she could really trust him or if this wasn´t just a facade to get her out of her defence. Kabuto was still the man who took her without any consideration from her home, who threatened her and tried to force her into doing things she didn´t want to do. So maybe giving him a chance was a pointless plan after all…

But then again, he had showed a more kind side to her when he saved her from this horrible man who tried to kill her, or when he got her something to eat rather than taunting her like before. So even if it was just a little bit she had seen of his good side, it was still a proof that this peculiar man had one after all, and who knew, Nonō might´ve been right when she told her that he was not this bad of a person if one knew him better. Besides, what was there for her to lose anyways if she´d have dinner with him at least this one time?

Seira took a deep breath, before she stood up from the bench she sat on and assured herself that she, hopefully, wouldn´t regret the decision she made later on…

* * *

Later that day sat a certain grey-haired male already on a set table, with his thoughts circling around none other than Seira. Over the past seven days he had, with great difficulty, tried to leave the young Priestess her space and not to be too pushy towards her, just like his motherly figure advised him to, but still, there was no change coming from Seira´s side. But what else could he do to show her that he wasn´t the monster she apparently thought he was? If she wouldn´t even share a bittime with him this would be a quite tough undertaking…

Kabuto heard all of a sudden his door being slid open, but because he thought it was just Nonō serving him his food, he didn´t bother to turn his head towards the door and remained being lost in his thoughts. Absently he asked:

"Good evening. What´s for dinner tonight?"

"I don´t know, Nonō-san hasn´t told me either…"

Kabuto´s attention was immediately caught as he recognized Seira´s voice and glanced then in slight astonishment at the strawberry-blonde female, who stood a bit unsure at the doorway and was looking at him.

"Seira, what a pleasant surprise! Would you like to take a seat?"

He felt shortly a little bit nervous inside, as he thought in the end she wasn´t there to keep him some company during dinner after all and had just walked into the wrong room by accident. However, his worries turned out to be false as Seira replied calmly:

"Sure, thank you."

The young woman took quietly a seat across from Kabuto, who couldn´t help but to smile unintentionally at her sudden appearance. Maybe his patience paid off after all…

Seira sat a little bit uptight at her place and averted her gaze onto the table in front of her, while Kabuto noticed her rather tense pose and tried to loosen up the atmosphere in the room a little by asking her about her day. The strawberry-blonde female finally glanced up to him as she answered:

"It was nice… and yours?"

"So far I can´t complain…"

They fell once again into a short period of silence, until Seira surprisingly re-opened the conversation by asking:

"So, what have you been doing all day long?"

The humanoid dragon´s lips tugged once again into a slight smile as he replied:

"I´ve been taking care of some forms which needed to be signed for the preparations of the upcoming summer festival, and afterwards I took a little flight over the surroundings to check if everything´s alright there…"

"A festival? Where is it held at?"

"It takes place at the village not far away from here, it´s the biggest event of the year and many people from the other villages around come to attend it."

The female´s eyes widened for a second as she asked a little surprised:

"There´s a village nearby? I haven´t seen one when I, uh, walked through the valley…"

Kabuto smirked lightly and replied:

"This might be because you went into the wrong direction my dear."

Seira sighed audible and mentally facepalmed. Of course the village would lie in the other direction and she would run into the arms of a killer instead…

Before the two of them could continue with their conversation, opened the door all of a sudden and a delicious scent filled the room as Nonō walked in with a tray of food.

"Good evening you two!"

Nonō smiled with a glint of happiness in her green eyes at Kabuto and Seira after she had placed the dishes on the table, while she was filled with joy as she saw that the young priestess didn´t seem to be too anxious around Kabuto anymore as much as she could tell. Long story short, she was glad that they started to approach each other in a slower way and that Kabuto didn´t seem to be too eagerly anymore…

When Nonō went out of the room again and left them alone, glanced Seira hungrily down at the plate in front of her and admired the exquisite looking Kaiseki ryori. It was a simple yet refined food, consisting mainly of vegetables and fish with a seasoning base of seaweed and mushrooms. Kabuto as well seemed to be pleased about tonight´s dinner, though Nonō's culinary skills had always been on a high level, wherefore Kabuto appreciated everything she served him.

After both of them had finished their food in silence, glanced Kabuto a little pensively at the grey-eyed woman and uttered:

"You know, since you haven´t seen the village yet, why don´t we make a little trip there tomorrow? I could show you around and do a little sightseeing with you, what do you say?"

A glimmer of anticipation sparkled in Kabuto´s golden eyes as he was waiting for Seira´s answer, while the latter thought about it for a moment. The evening so far had been more enjoyable than she thought it would be and Kabuto had behaved very well too, so what would speak against it to take a trip to the village with him? Actually nothing, and seeing some more of the surroundings there couldn´t be too bad as well, so that she replied:

"That sounds good to me, so why not…"

She gave Kabuto a nice smile, which made the heart of the grey-haired male beat a little faster. She sure had a beautiful smile…

* * *

The next day around noon was Kabuto already waiting outside his residence for Seira to arrive, while he quietly saddled the horse which would bring them to the village. It had been a while since he last rode a horse and he mostly preferred flying anyways, but due to his brides fears this was currently not possible. However, he wasn´t all too bothered by this, especially because he was looking forward to this day and hoped that everything would go smoothly.

"And, are you excited?"

Kabuto turned slightly startled around as he heard Nonō speaking up behind him, while he glanced shortly at her and replied:

"I´m not, I suppose. I´m just showing Seira around a little bit, that isn´t really something to be excited about, is it?"

Nonō shrugged at his statement and replied with a knowing smile on her lips:

"I wouldn´t know, but I haven´t seen you like this in a long time and therefore I am happy for you…"

Affectionately she ruffled through his messy grey hair, while Kabuto´s head turned slightly red and he turned his gaze away in embarrassment.

"Thank you, b- but please prevent yourself from doing such gestures more often, I´m not a little boy anymore…"

"You´ll always be my little dearie no matter how old you are…"

The fawn-haired woman grinned and tousled his hair once again, what made Kabuto sigh quietly at the woman´s little teasing, but he couldn´t prevent himself from smiling lightly because of Nonō's statement from before.

Kabuto made then a last check if the saddle was put on right, and just a few minutes later walked Seira out of the estate, with her strawberry-blonde hair tied into a loose ponytail and clothed in a beautiful yet comfortable lavender Kimono like garment. The humanoid dragon smiled at her pretty appearance, while Nonō greeted the young woman cordially.

After a short greeting, Kabuto helped Seira carefully onto the back of the horse, while he afterwards as well seated himself skilfully on top of it. Before they rode away, turned Kabuto once again towards his motherly figure and said:

"We´ll be back before sundown I guess, so as long as I´m out you´re the responsible one if somebody wants anything…"

Nonō nodded slightly and replied:

"I know, and have fun you two…"

The grey-haired male gave her a short nod as well, before he looked behind him at Seira and uttered:

"Hold tight on me, we wouldn´t want you to fall off the horse, would we?"

Seira put, with slight hesitance, her arms around Kabuto, who smirked to himself and signalised the horse then to start moving with an expert movement. When the horse started to gallop a little faster down the mountains path, felt the grey-haired male how Seira´s grip around him tightened, which made Kabuto´s complaints from before about riding a horse pretty much non-existent.

* * *

Around an hour later they had reached the village, and Seira was being astonished as she saw the rather big size of it and the many people who were walking around on the streets.

"Wow," Seira mumbled quietly to herself, while Kabuto helped her getting off the horse again.

"I didn´t think that the village would be _this _big…"

With slightly widened eyes she looked around, while Kabuto raised a brow and asked:

"So you´ve never visited one of the bigger villages before?"

The young priestess shook her head and explained:

"The only village near the temple was four hours away and the only one I´ve ever visited to be honest, but in contrast to yours it appears quite tiny…"

"I see, well then let´s start with our little tour, shall we?"

Kabuto offered Seira expectant his arm to hook on, but the grey-eyed girl simply ignored his gesture and started walking instead, much to the dragon´s disappointment…

* * *

"So, who is this?"

The two of them stopped before a statue of a man who had also horns on his head, which Seira eyed quite curiously, while Kabuto replied:

"That´s Akio, he´s known as one of the mightiest dragons that ever lived. He made himself a name when he defeated an enemy army all by himself when they tried to attack this village."

"Impressive… Did you know him?"

Kabuto´s facial expression suddenly turned rather blank as he replied:

"I did, he´s my father."

Seira´s eyes widened slightly and she looked back and forth between the statue and Kabuto. So this man was Kabuto´s father…

"So is he-"

"Yes. 10 years ago he vanished and hasn´t returned since then, which made everybody assume that he most likely died."

The young priestess bowed her head slightly and uttered:

"I see, I´m sorry…"

"You don´t have to be, now let´s go further."

Seira was surprised about the iciness in Kabuto´s voice and she wondered for a moment if this came from the loss Kabuto had experienced, or from something else that had happened between him and his father which made him dislike the man in any kind of way.

"Are you coming?"

Kabuto glanced over his shoulder at the priestess, who nodded quickly and followed the grey-haired male afterwards.

* * *

After a while had Kabuto´s mood turned back into normal and he told Seira a little more about the village's history, such as its foundation. He was surprisingly a very good narrator and Seira listened attentively to every word he said.

"My ancestor founded this village over 100 years ago, after he concluded that the small land he possessed wasn´t enough for his people to live at anymore, especially since the food became narrowly with every day that passed. So he searched for a ranker place where they had more possibilities to grow their own vegetables and fruits, so he found this part of the land and conquered it with ease…"

Seira nodded in acknowledgement and realized just how little she knew about the other villages further away from her former home. All she knew about the outside world was what her grandmother told her, she herself had only read some older scrolls she found at the temple, but they didn´t really give her the kind of information Kabuto gave her right now. To be honest, she really enjoyed finding out more about this place and about the dragons themselves from Kabuto and could wholeheartedly say that she was glad that she agreed to come with him today.

While Kabuto continued his little history lesson about his ancestor, Isamu the conqueror, and his great deeds towards his people, noticed Seira all of a sudden that the villagers gave them rather suspicious looks as they passed by. At first she didn´t give much attention to it, but the further they walked the more she noticed that most of the people either glanced at them, or more Kabuto, with fear or something like abhorrence in their eyes. Their stares made the young priestess feel rather uncomfortable and nervous, while she wondered if Kabuto didn´t notice their obvious stares as well…

With effort she tried to ignore them once again and concentrate instead on the things Kabuto told her, as he was currently telling her something about the Uchiha who lived at the neighbouring lands:

"They´ve always been bloodthirsty people, who used every chance possible to start a war with their neighbours and enlarge their own lands like this, until my great grandfather negotiated an agreement with them that each party wasn´t allowed on the others land anymore, so that a war could be prevented. However, during my father's reign they broke the settlement and attacked this village, but a war was obviated by adding the clause that if one of them ever overstepped the border, that they would immediately be killed or imprisoned, and the same goes for us as well."

"That´s a pretty cruel law though…"

Kabuto looked a bit irritated at Seira as he heard her mumbling, while he replied:

"It is a necessity Seira, otherwise this land would still suffer under the attacks of those people and it would cost way more lives than without it…"

"But isn´t there a way where nobody has to die? Where you and the Uchiha could live in peace without the permission to kill everybody who crosses the border?"

Her grey eyes glanced up to Kabuto as she was awaiting his answer, but the latter simply sighed and responded:

"I´m afraid there isn´t. You always have to rule with an iron hand and accept that sacrifices have to be made in order to achieve peace, that´s the only way for us to live in quietude with each other…"

"I see…"

Seira glanced a little bit weighed down to the ground and thought that hers and Kabuto´s ideology were very different. Well, but who knew, maybe she was just too much of an peace-loving person and Kabuto and his ancestors were right to create such rules after all, though it was hard for her to believe that there couldn´t be another, less brutal way…

* * *

After around three hours of strolling through the village and examining some smaller sights accompanied by some more historical facts from Kabuto, they reached the last, and probably biggest sight at the end of the village, an old huge bridge which guided above a large river to the other side. It was made of green tinted wood with golden dragon figures on either side of the beams, which Seira beheld with delight. Buildings like this, with so much love for details, had started to fascinate the young woman ever since she visited the Jōruri-ji temple with her grandmother, one of the biggest and most elaborated temples she had seen so far.

"This is the Renraku-bashi, it was built under Isamu´s reign as a sign that his old territory was now connected with the new one, so that supplies could be delivered to the other side with ease and the old area could still be used for the farming as well…"

They walked a little onto the bridge so that Seira had an even better view than before, while she touched one of the gilded dragons carefully. They were simply magnificent, to say the least, even though one could see by further examination that the bridge already had a few years under its belt.

"It´s beautiful," said Seira quietly under her breath, and Kabuto smiled at her enthusiasm. The curious sparkle in her eyes and the light smile on her lips really rejoiced the grey-haired man, not to mention that she really seemed interested in his stories before and listened with attention to him, something he appreciated a lot.

A little later after they were finished examining the bridge, Kabuto suggested that they should visit a tea house before they´d leave and go back home, to which Seira gladly agreed. When they found a nice looking one which wasn´t too crowded, they searched for a nice seat and were afterwards waiting for the waitress to take their orders. However, while they sat there, Seira noticed once again the stares of other people on herself and Kabuto, so that she asked the humanoid dragon quietly:

"Say, haven´t you noticed how everybody is staring at us?"

Kabuto glanced shortly around, but shrugged afterwards and replied:

"Sure I did, but that´s how they always look when I´m around, with awe because I´m their Lord…"

He smirked lightly at Seira, but the priestess could see clearly that the look in their eyes wasn´t one of reverence, but something else. The atmosphere had also become rather unwelcoming ever since they had entered the cozy tea house, so that Seira wondered what the problem might be. Was it because of Kabuto´s presence maybe? But why? What had he done to receive such a cold greeting?

Seira was snapped out of her thoughts as she noticed from the corner of her eye a woman standing beside their table, who apparently was there to take their orders. However, Seira immediately noticed the girl's nervousness and unease, especially when she asked stuttering what they´d like to order. Kabuto, who seemingly didn´t give much attention to the young woman´s uneasiness, ordered them two cups of green tea and dango for either of them, while the black-haired waitress bowed then slightly before taking her leave again.

While waiting for their orders to arrive, they talked a little bit about today's events, where Seira told Kabuto also why it was that she was so fascinated with older buildings. After a short while their drinks and food were brought from the same waitress, and though Seira gave the young woman a friendly smile, she didn´t return it and went instead quickly away again from their table. The young priestess looked afterwards at Kabuto to see if he might´ve noticed the girl's behaviour as well, but the latter just sipped on his tea and was seemingly not interested at all.

* * *

When the two of them were finished after a while, excused Kabuto himself shortly to visit the bathroom and left Seira like this sitting on the table on her own. Unseen by the young priestess, as Kabuto was out of sight, was that the owner of the shop, an elder man, approached her quietly and startled the grey-eyed girl a little bit as he coughed loudly to get her attention. A bit questioning she glanced then up to the bald man, who leaned down to her and said quietly:

"Miss, do you need help?"

Confused by the man´s question, Seira asked bewildered:

"What for would I need help?"

The bald man glanced a bit jumpy over his shoulder towards the direction of the bathroom and replied afterwards:

"With this fiend I meant. I know what those monsters are capable of, therefore I´m here to offer you assistance if you need to escape him…"

Seira was for a moment speechless and thought for a second about the man´s offer, however, she wasn´t one to break her promises just like this, which is why she replied kindly:

"Thank you for the offer, but I´m actually here on my free will and your help is therefore not needed…"

Apparently surprised by the woman´s words, the shop owner frowned and looked at her questioning, while Seira asked a bit curiously:

"But say, why do you think so lowly of your Lord anyways?"

The man snorted at her question and replied with anger in his voice:

"Our _Lord _doesn´t care for his people at all, he lets his guards take care of the business here in the village and when there´s a matter he himself needs to take care of, the guards decline to bother him with what are in their eyes _trivial matters_. They try to oppress us and hassle us, and all this excuse of a leader does is absolutely nothing!"

Seira couldn´t believe what she heard him saying, after all, she had thought the village and its people appeared rather healthy and rich from what she had seen, therefore it was quite shocking to hear something like this. The priestess was just about to ask the man further questions, but she didn´t have the possibility as he quickly said:

"I- I hope you enjoyed your stay here Miss, please visit us again sometime!"

First lightly bewildered she shot him a confused glance, but she understood his strange behaviour as she saw Kabuto coming back and giving the man as well a questioning look.

"What did he want from you?"

The humanoid dragon glanced suspiciously towards the man, but Seira simply responded:

"He just asked if everything was to our liking and that they´d be happy if we´d visit this tea house again in the future…"

Kabuto nodded in understanding, while they left the tea house afterwards to get on their way back home again.

The sun already started setting when they were riding back to Kabuto´s house, while Seira was lost in her thoughts as the words of the man came back into her mind. She knew Kabuto could be ignorant, but like this? From the stories he told her about his ancestors and what they did to make sure that the village and its people were alright, it was hard to believe that Kabuto neglected them like the man told her he did. But the man probably didn´t have a reason to lie either…

Carefully she peeked up to the grey-haired male and decided to confront him later on with what she had heard today. Maybe he just didn´t know how his guards treated the villagers after all…

* * *

Back at the residence after the two of them went back inside, Kabuto asked Seira with a smile on his lips:

"Did you enjoy the trip Seira?"

The strawberry-blonde female nodded lightly and replied:

"I did indeed, it was nice to learn a little bit more about the village and your ancestors…"

Apparently delighted about her answer, the golden-eyed man uttered:

"I´m glad to hear this. So, does this mean I´ll see you again later on for dinner?"

"Sure…"

Seira´s lips tugged into a faint smile, before she left Kabuto to go into her room and change clothes.

* * *

The humanoid dragon smiled happily to himself as he walked down the hallway to his room, while he was 100% sure that today had brought them definitely closer to each other. Before he reached his room, however, encountered Kabuto before his door a rather worried looking Nonō, who held a scroll in her hand and was apparently glad to see him finally being back home.

"Kabuto, a hawk brought this message earlier today, it´s from the Uchiha´s leader…"

Kabuto narrowed his eyes slightly as he took the message from Nonō, and anger overwhelmed the grey-haired male as he read what they wanted from him.

"Are they kidding?! What kind of lies has this bastard told them?!"

Nonō placed a hand on the males arm to calm him down a little, while she asked with concern in her voice:

"I knew that a message from them wouldn´t mean anything good. What do they want?"

Angrily he crumpled the message in his hand as he clenched his fist, while he replied hissing:

"They want me to give them Seira so that they can punish her for overstepping the border, and the most pathetic thing is that this message refers to her as a spy! A spy, can you believe that?!"

Nonō's green eyes widened slightly at the bad news, while Kabuto continued:

"Also, if I refuse to extradite her to them, they write that it will have serious consequences as a result, concerning our contract and the peace between our lands…."

The fawn-haired woman glanced troubled up to the tall male, while she asked:

"And what are you going to do now? Will you-"

"Of course I won´t give her to them! It was an accident from her side, she didn´t even know where she was going so they have no right to punish her! Whatever this liar Obito told his leader, I´ll make sure to clear this misconception myself…"

Nonō gulped and felt a bad feeling arising inside her, as this whole situation just screamed for trouble.

"Something else, I want you to keep quiet about this in front of Seira, understood? She mustn´t worry about this as well…"

She nodded in understanding and agreed with his request, while Kabuto went then quickly into his room in order to think about all this in silence. He didn´t want to provoke a war, but he wouldn´t hand Seira over to them either, that was for sure. A solution had to be found quickly by the grey-haired male, or else…

* * *

**[A/N:Hey guys! I hope that you liked this chapter and how things are progressing. It´d be great and appreciated if you could tell me what you thought of it!**

**Thanks to Sayasenju, JigokuShoujosRevenge and for your reviews and thanks to everybody who fav/followed this story too! Reviews are as usual much appreciated! Until next time!]**


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